1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to remotely managing active graphical user interface elements, and in particular, to a computer implemented method for identifying and selectively forwarding active graphical user interface elements from a source system to a remote device for user interaction.
2. Description of Related Art
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are widely utilized by computer systems for communicating or otherwise interacting with a user visually. This allows a user with limited computer skills to interact intuitively with computer systems. There are many types of elements which may be utilized to interact visually with a user including windows, menus, icons, controls or widgets, tabs and interaction elements.
Windows are an area on a display which displays information independently from the rest of the display. Windows may be utilized for displaying information and for obtaining information or a response from a user, often for a software application being run by the user. Windows may be moved, hidden, adjusted in size, navigated using scroll bars or other elements. Multiple windows may be open at any time and overlap with each other and each window may be placed in front of or behind other windows. Various types of windows may be utilized including a container window for showing the contents of a device, a browser window allowing a user to move forward or backward through a variety of webpages, a text terminal for embedding interaction with text user interfaces, a child window such as a pop-up box which opens due to interaction with another window, and a message window or dialog box which is a type of child window typically for displaying information to and getting a response from a user. New or active windows of any kind are typically positioned in front of any other windows displayed on a computer system display. This allows the user to work on the most recently opened window without having to close or move other windows.
A message window or dialog box may be modeless or modal depending on whether they block interaction with their parent window. A modeless dialog box is typically used when any requested information is not essential to continue operation of the parent window (i.e. the program or application running the parent window). A modal dialog box will temporarily halt operation of the parent window until the requested information is provided. The requested information may simply be the user mouse clicking one of two displayed buttons or it may be detailed information for the user to provide. For example, the user may be queried whether that user agrees to certain shrink-wrap license terms before installing a program onto the computer system.
Menus allow the user to execute commands by selecting from a list of choices. Menus include a menu bar with multiple menus selections typically displayed horizontally across the top or bottom of the display. A menu bar selection may include a pull-down menu when the user clicks on that menu selection. Icons are small pictures that represent objects such as a file, program, web page or command. They allow the user to quickly execute a command, open a document, or run a program. Controls or widgets are a variety of interface elements that the computer user may interact with including a text box, a button, a hyperlink, a list box, a check box, a radio button, etc. A tab is typically a rectangular small box which contains a text label or graphical icon associated with a window. They allow a user to switch quickly between different windows or other GUI elements. Interaction elements are common idioms for user interaction such as a cursor or pointer.
In summary, there are many types of GUI elements in use today on computer systems for a variety of purposes, typically to make the user interface with the computer system more intuitive and powerful.